One question... why? I mean, straight to DVD sequels aren't really good to begin with... especially when none of the cast or characters return for the sequel. In fact, the only thing this movie shares with its supposed predecessor is that three guys go out into the woods on a quest, and along the way they run into two hippie earth-first chicks who live in a tree house (it isn't even the same two characters from the first movie). Quite frankly, of all the movies to make a direct to DVD sequel of, why Without a Paddle? It was an okay film, but not really a box-office smash.

Anyway, Without a Paddle: Nature's Calling follows Ben (Oliver James) and Zach (Kristopher Turner), two friends who drifted apart some after high school. Ben has become a criminal lawyer and Zach has become a nurse, and while the two try to keep in touch, Ben's extremely busy job keeps them from getting together.

One day, one of Zach's patients, old Mrs. Bessler (Ellen Albertini Dow) gets word that her heart won't last much longer. She asks Zach to find her long-lost granddaughter. At first Zach turns down this offer, but when he finds out that the missing woman is someone that he and Ben went to high school with (and Ben has been obsessing over for many years), he takes to the challenge. Now Zach and Ben will head to the Oregon woods to find Heather (Madison Riley). Heather's step-brother, Nigel (Rik Young), joins them on their quest... despite the friends' wishes.

Similar to the first movie, the three guys find themselves way over their heads as they face rapids, waterfalls, crazy squirrels and a monster who seems to leave bones all over the place. But the chemistry between the three just isn't there, and a lot of what made the first one interesting was the interaction between Dax Shepard, Matthew Lillard and Seth Green.

Special features are light, but there. The DVD features three featurettes, one on the making of the film, one on working in the tree house (where about a third of the movie takes place) and one that is more of a mocumentary about how they got the squirrels to do what they needed to in the film. This last one was amusing, and you can tell the cast and crew enjoyed doing it, so it's worth watching. Besides the featurettes, there is the standard gag reel and deleted scenes available as well.

Quite frankly, the movie itself is only mildly entertaining and it throws out quite a few red herrings and pointless characters just to try and trick the viewer for no apparent reason, and there are a few times when that gets really annoying. The story definitely had potential, but it seems a lot of that potential was used in the first Without a Paddle movie and this one feels like little more than an attempt to get just a bit more money out of those who liked the first film.